Tag Archive: US Senate

For 8 years I have been pulling my hair out trying to explain to people who were afraid of losing their 2nd amendment rights, exactly why that couldn’t happen – and why no one was taking away their guns.

Guess what? No one is taking away your Freedom of Speech either.

You know why? Our Constitution has quite a few safe guards, intentionally placed there by the framers, to ensure its’ laws aren’t taken lightly, or easily changed, without quite a bit of thought going into the process.

First of all, before taking office, a President Elect has to swear to protect, preserve and defend the United States Constitution. A similar version of this oath is also taken by all new members of the House of Representatives, Senate, and each military branch. It’s a pretty hefty oath – violation of which is considered a federal crime – treason.

Second, you can not repeal an amendment without actually having something to replace it which has to go through the same process of ratification as a new amendment would. In other words, it wouldn’t be a ‘replacement’ so much as an addition that would nullify the other amendment. The other amendment will always be a part of the overall document.

For example: The 18th Amendment prohibited the sale and manufacture of alcohol in the United States – the 21st Amendment repealed the 18th Amendment, but the 18th Amendment is still a part of the Constitution as a repealed amendment.

Next, a proposed amendment (whether new, or intended to replace an existing one) must be approved by a 2/3 majority of both legislative bodies of the US Congress (so Senate AND House of Representatives each have to come up with a 2/3 majority willing to give up Freedom of Speech).

After that, the Proposed Amendment must be sent to every individual State’s legislature for consideration. Each state then votes either yes or no on the Proposed Amendment.

For the Proposed Amendment to become a Constitutional Amendment, 3/4 of the individual American States must ratify the amendment. That means 38 states would have to agree to whatever amendment that was being proposed to repeal and replace the First Amendment before the Amendment becomes a part of the Constitution.

So, let’s be realistic here, do you think 38 states will ratify an amendment to curtail freedom of speech? And before that, do you really think 3/4 of the Senate and 3/4 of the House of the Representatives would even vote for the Amendment?

Let’s just put it this way – Since 1789, there have been over 11,000 proposed amendments introduced – of those, 33 have been approved by Congress – 27 have been ratified by the states. Those 27 make up our Constitution.

And while I agree there is much to be wary of with our President Elect, one thing is clear, for all his bluster, he himself clearly doesn’t know of what he speaks when he claims he can ‘amend the First Amendment’ or ‘open up the Libel Laws.’ (I’d love to get in to Libel laws now, but, this is getting way too long for most folks’ attention spans, including mine. Next time, perhaps.)

In other words, being the President of the United States is vastly different than being the President of your own company.

I certainly hope that while President Obama assists President-Elect Trump during this transition period, that he also imparts some Constitutional wisdom on our future President. Mr. Trump will be taking an oath to protect and preserve the Constitution – it would be a shame if he didn’t actually have a basic understanding of what was in it when he took that oath.

A few weeks ago, I posted a status update on my Facebook page asking that anyone who seriously is considering using their right to vote to cast said vote on Donald Trump, to kindly ‘un-friend’ me.

I was serious.
I’m still serious.

I don’t care if folks are insulted. (As a fan of Trump’s you should appreciate my honesty, right?) I know some were. But in all honesty, if you are seriously considering that bloviating orange buffoon as someone you want to represent our country to the rest of the world, I’m totally fine with disassociating myself with you.

Don’t get me wrong. I understand. He’s refreshing. He speaks his mind. He’s not part of the DC establishment. All true.

He’s also lying through his teeth; Picking facts out of his ass; And living in a fantasy world.

Some folks have pointed out that as a business man with a “successful” (you know, minus that whole filing for bankruptcy thing) business, he can put the country back on track. I find it amazing that anyone with half a brain would somehow compare heading a business – one’s own business – where one can be a dictator if he so chooses – to heading a government, where one has to compromise.

The Presidency is not a Dictatorship (Civics 101 anyone?). If the House and the Senate (and Donny is sure as hell screwed here, because NO party likes him), don’t want to let him accomplish anything, they can screw him through the entirety of his presidency (please see Obama Presidency for evidence of this fact).

Other folks think that his tough talking attitude will make other countries more willing to negotiate.

It won’t.

Have you ever been in a conversation with a bully? Have you ever walked away from that conversation respecting said bully? Or, have you walked away from that conversation wanting to strike back and hurt that bully? Because that’s all that Trump is – a loud-mouthed bully who will end up getting us in deep shit with the likes of Russia and China, never mind the Middle East. Right now, we may have a cold relationship with Russia. Right now China may be laughing at us (I don’t know if that is the case, but Trump says so, so it must be true, right?).

I can hear it now. First, Trump will call Putin a “loser” after which he will comment on Putin’s penchant for taking shirtless pictures: “What a flabby body.. you should see my body, six-pack abs Vlad, I have six pack abs.’

Yeah, how long before psycho-Putin decides to come after us with all guns blazing, peace on Earth be damned?

You want to see World War III for real? Let Trump take a stab at International Diplomacy.

His stance on tossing the Fourteenth Amendment, means he has no clue how the Constitution (you know, that document he’d be swearing to protect), works. His stance on immigration, means he has no clue how illegal immigrants REALLY get here, or who they actually are (They aren’t all Mexicans, folks. And they don’t all come here via the Mexican border. And not all the folks who DO come across the Mexican border, are Mexican either. He just doesn’t like Mexicans, I suppose, considering all the vile bullshit he’s been spewing about Mexican immigrants. Funny he doesn’t mention illegal immigrants from Eastern Europe.. I wonder why that is? Hmmm).

I understand that folks are tired of being ‘politically correct,’ but when a man tells the world that it’s a pity that the hot woman sitting next to him is his daughter because he’d totally bang her if she weren’t (paraphrasing, but he DID say something akin to that, that sounded even sleazier, regarding how attractive he finds is daughter Ivanka to be), you’re looking at a President who would do way worse than ask a willing intern to do some nasty stuff with a cigar. Don’t believe me? http://www.businessinsider.com/hitting-on-ivanka-creeps-out-trump-supporters-2015-8

Seriously, he had the balls to call Anthony Weiner a perv..At least Anthony Weiner isn’t drooling over his own daughter’s ass. Just saying.

Aside from basically talking out of his ass, (seriously, have you SEEN that face?), Trump is pathetic. He’s a got the emotional mentality of a 12 year old in school yard telling ‘yo mama’ jokes in an effort to insult someone making fun of his hair cut (which looks stupid. Sorry. Anyone who tells you you look good with that orange nest on your head, isn’t your friend). Whenever someone hurts his itty bitty feewings he goes on the defensive. When asked legitimate questions, he responds with insults, claiming that the question was unfairly difficult. When asked to explain a rude comment he made in the past, he responds with threats about how he is prepared to stop being nice. Following these kinds of altercations, he then goes on an insult rampage on Twitter. Twitter? Really? How the hell old is this child?

He claims that the only reason he attacks folks in the media, or his opposing candidates, is because he is fighting back against people who attack him. Do we really want someone that thin-skinned at the helm of this country?

What if Obama had acted similarly when he was being constantly attacked by Trump and that whole “birther” movement? You don’t have to like Obama to respect the fact that he just let that bullshit slide off his back. And unlike Trump’s attacks on Obama’s college transcript and origin of birth, most attacks on Trump are actually based in fact. I understand that we live in a time where the most popular Conservative outlet believes that facts are non-essential, but I’m sorry, the reality is, facts are important. And Trump wouldn’t know a fact if it hit him in his face.

Here’s the thing, I too can appreciate someone who speaks their mind. I too am unhappy with the DC establishment. I’m seriously tired of voting for the lesser of two evils at this point (seriously folks, if you want to know HOW Obama got a second term, you need only to look at who you all chose to run against him and remember that Minorities and Women can vote now so slut-shaming and talking about the 49% won’t really help your cause). But just because Trump says what he feels doesn’t mean that everything that comes out of his big mouth is right, or sane, or true. As a matter of fact, most of it is dead wrong, filled with inaccuracies, and completely self-serving.

This isn’t about me being a liberal. While it is true, I would never vote for any of the candidates currently vying for the Republican nomination, I wouldn’t mind debating the merits of any of the other folks with you. I love debating politics. But in order to do that, you need a mentally viable opponent, and I fear that anyone who actually can consider Trump as a serious candidate, can’t hold up their end in an intelligent discourse about the merits of candidacy for President. See? I can speak my mind too.

This isn’t about me being a fan of Hillary’s either (Please get that through your heads right now. I want a female president, I really do – Just not her).

And this isn’t me trying to curtail your personal freedom to vote for whom you wish to vote for and to say what you want to say about it. I just am enacting my right to not have to be subjected to the ramblings of a fool who’s drunk the Kool-Aid.

We can be friends again once Trump goes back to his tower and divorces his wife so he can find a younger model – one who will probably look like his daughter, since clearly he wishes he could pull a Woody Allen; Files for Bankruptcy again, maybe this time in earnest after spending all that cash on this nonsense; And hopefully decides to help the country by never trying to run for President again.. Until then, just do us both a favor… Un-Friend Me.

Okay, I usually hate to get political, especially here. Seriously, the worst thing anyone can bring up in any conversation is either politics, or religion. You all already know my take on religion. I don’t believe in it. God? Yes. Religion? No.

Politically, I guess I lean more towards the liberal side. That’s fine. I can sit and have a conversation with folks who don’t believe the same as I do on any given day. Neither of us will change the other’s mind, and that’s fine too. It’s the way the world works. But there is absolutely no one who can convince me that the current actions of Republican Senators in regards to giving 9/11 First responders the medical assistance they need makes any sense what so ever.

The Zodroga Bill, more commonly known as the 9/11 First Responder’s Bill, should never have been subjected to any kind of partisan crap. I get it. Republicans don’t like Obama. They don’t want to help him achieve anything. They will filibuster everything. And the Democratic side, even when they HAD the majority are the “please like me” party full of nothing but a bunch of pussies who basically bend over backwards trying to please everyone and getting absolutely nothing done.

But really? THIS???

As someone who lived through the events of 9/11, and worked, even after that date, just a few blocks from Ground Zero, I can tell you THIS pisses me off. The passing of the bill has absolutely nothing to do with me, personally. Clearly, I wasn’t a first responder. However, it DOES have to do with all the men and women who worked on that site, inhaling toxic fumes daily, and the ONLY reason they are being denied any assistance is because of the ridiculous pissing contest the Republican side of the senate insists on having with the Democrats. I get it, okay? You’ve held up a whole lot of shit that I think would benefit this country. You can give me your reasons for the other things you held up and I can even see how MAYBE some of it, makes sense (not to me, but okay). But for a group that has used 9/11 as the excuse for everything you have (and haven’t) done in the past nine years, the LEAST that you can do, and I do mean LEAST, is pass a bill that helps provide medical assistance for the folks who worked on that smoking pile of toxicity and are still paying the price for it.

One Senator said that he hasn’t had the time to read through it all, and thinks that it would be an affront to Christians everywhere if he worked the week between Christmas and New Years to try and figure it out. Excuse me? Wait. I understand not working Christmas. Fine. But what’s the religious significance of the days between December 25 and December 31.

Mike Huckabee (maybe one of the few Republicans, who I might not always agree with, but who, I can actually see as making sense), actually said, and I’m paraphrasing, on the Jon Stewart show last night that these Senators SHOULD work that week, because it would make up for the rest of the year of them doing nothing. I agree.. 100%

If I sound upset, it’s because I genuinely am. Can you imagine if Firefighters took a vote on 9/11? Sounds ridiculous right? Well so does this hold up. It is unconscionable. These fat assed Senators need to just get the fuck over themselves and show some humanity towards the people who literally risked their lives and do so every time they go into a burning building.

Here is a clip from last night’s episode of “The Daily Show,” where Jon Stewart discusses the Zodroga Bill and the Senate’s inability to see past their own selfish agendas, with actual 9/11 first responders. Seriously, tell me, after watching this, you wouldn’t want to go bitch-slap one of the senators holding up this bill too..